'Eleanor, will you get a move on! We're going to be late!' he bellowed up the stairs, glancing anxiously at his watch. The maternity department at St James' were doing them a massive favour by fitting them in so early in the morning so that he and Serena didn't both have to negotiate time off work at the same time. It had to be St James' because Serena was adamant that news of Eleanor's predicament needed to be contained for as long as possible, and was likely to be kept quieter if there wasn't a danger of Marie-Claire seeing them coming out of the maternity unit and publishing a hospital wide memo. The downside of the arrangement meant that he was left with the unenviable task of getting a teenager up and out of the house at 6am, to go somewhere that she didn't want to go in the first place.
'I can't find my mascara' she called back. She sounded anxious and unhappy, which would normally have made him go easy on her, but today he was too stressed. He was supposed to be presenting to the board about the Primary Defense scheme in the hope of extending his contract in three hours time, and he didn't have time to try and cram Eleanor's scan into his day. He was only going at all because Serena had left him little choice; when he'd tried to wriggle off the hook and suggest that medical appointments were more her bag than his, she'd snapped that they were in it together or not at all. Apparently after uprooting his whole life to accommodate their daughter, he still wasn't quite pulling his weight. When he'd pointed out that this morning was the worst possible time for him to have to be anywhere other than finishing off an all-nighter with Ric, she'd asked whether he'd like to pay for an appointment at a more convenient time at a private hospital. That had convinced him; he'd pulled his all-nighter at the hospital, headed home at 5am to take a quick shower and drive Eleanor into the hospital. He was exhausted and he didn't have time for his daughter's antics. Not when if he missed or fouled up this presentation he could well lose his job, and therefore the means of paying the mortgage.
'It's not your eyes they're going to be interested in. I haven't got time for this and if we're late then you know your mother is going to blame me. Now get in the bloody car' he retorted, storming up the stairs and banging on the bathroom door 'I know it's early. Believe me, in an ideal world I'd be in bed too, but it's not an ideal world and we've got somewhere to be'
'Can't we reschedule for later'
'No, we can't. They're doing us a favour as it is, now move' he snapped, relieved when she threw open the bathroom door and pushed past him, flouncing down the stairs. He couldn't see quite how she had the nerve to blame him for any of this, under the circumstances, but he also didn't have the energy to deal with it. He needed to get in and out and back to the hospital by 8.30 and that didn't leave him time for a blazing row with a hormonally charged teenager.
ooooo
'You're late' Serena snapped as they staggered into the maternity unit forty minutes later. The other downside of St James' was that it was right on the other side of town from his house whereas City was just down the road. It was almost as if she'd intended it to be as inconvenient as possible, but he knew that it was less about his convenience than it was about discretion.
'I'm doing my best' he replied miserably as Eleanor threw herself down on one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs and glowered at them. 'I haven't slept and she seems to have gotten out of bed on the wrong side this morning. Give me a break, please'
'Well it's fine. They're running late. How did the preparation for the presentation go? I'm looking forward to hearing it' she told him with a smirk and his heart sank. They might have been getting on better than they had for years on a personal level but on a professional level she still didn't much like working with him, or have much faith in Primary Defense. If the presentation went badly then she'd be the first person to pull the plug on him, so it wasn't great news that she was going to be present.
'I'm presenting to you?' he asked weakly.
'Myself and a few others, yes' she replied, obviously enjoying herself immensely and me.
'Marvelous' he sighed, heading straight for the coffee machine to get himself a cup of some grey sludge that might have been tea, coffee, soup or a mixture of the three. 'Would you like one?'
'Must be desperate times if you're considering consuming that' she replied with a grin.
'I told you, I haven't slept. Did they say how late they're running? I have to be back at the hospital by half eight at the latest'
'It's fine, Edward. They won't start without you. Or me, for that matter' she reassured him, glancing up as a nurse came and called Eleanor's name 'Here we go; it's only five minutes. You'll be back at the hospital in plenty of time'
ooooo
They sat opposite each other, either side of the trolley where Eleanor lay. She still seemed to be sulking which Serena thought was a bit rich since she was the reason why they'd all dragged themselves here at the crack of dawn, but now wasn't the time to tackle her on the attitude problem. Instead she took her daughter's hand and squeezed it tightly. Today was the day when it became real which was another reason why there were all rattled. It was bad luck that it was also the day of Edward's big presentation, but she couldn't help that. She'd had to call in several favours just to get this appointment and there was no flexibility with the dates.
'You must be Eleanor' the midwife greeted her with a friendly smile, designed to put her at her ease. 'I'm Marie, I'm going to be looking after you today'
'Hello' Ellie mumbled. She suddenly looked very young and very scared and Serena found herself swallowing back a lump in her throat, thinking not for the first time that her daughter was ten years too young for all of this; that if she was any kind of mother, she'd have found some way to nip this in the bud or to stop it from happening in the first place.
'I think what we'll do first is have a quick look at you and do the scan. Then once we've done that we'll have a chat. Is that alright?'
'Fine' Eleanor replied, glancing to her mother as she spoke, as if silently asking permission. Serena managed a reassuring smile. If this was going to happen – and apparently it was – then Eleanor was going to have to learn pretty quickly that she couldn't defer to her parents any more.
'Right then, lets have a look. This might be a little cold' Marie squeezed some gel onto Eleanor's stomach and took the probe, moving it slowly, gently around until a grainy picture appeared on the screen. As it did Serena felt her heart leap to her chest and she glanced up at Edward for confirmation that she was seeing what she thought she was. As she did he looked up at her, and she knew that he'd seen it too. Of course he had. He'd spent even longer working in maternity than she had as a Junior Doctor; they were both more than capable of interpreting a twelve-week ultrasound, even when it didn't show what they were expecting it to.
'Mum?' Eleanor asked, panicked because she knew her parents well enough to know when something was wrong, and even if she hadn't, it didn't take a genius to work it out when Edward had gone completely ashen. 'What is it. What's wrong'
'Nothing' she reassured her, squeezing her hand, glancing up at Marie for confirmation.
'Everything looks very healthy, Eleanor. What is a bit of a surprise is that there are two heartbeats' the nurse told her daughter gently.
'Two heartbeats?' Eleanor looked confused, as if she couldn't grasp what she was being told.
'Twins' Edward supplied wearily.
'Are there any in the family?'
'Not on my side' Serena replied 'Edward?'
'Not to my knowledge' he sighed, sitting back in his chair and exhaling hard. He looked like he'd had the stuffing knocked out of him and she knew exactly how he felt.
'Ellie, why don't your mum and dad step outside for a minute and we can have a chat? Would that be alright?' the midwife asked gently, putting the ultrasound probe back on the machine. Eleanor looked close to tears but she nodded and Serena stood up, relieved because the midwife had read the situation correctly; she and Edward needed to regroup because this was one shock that neither of them had even paused to consider. By the time she'd hooked her handbag over her shoulder Edward was already out of the room, moving faster than she'd ever seen him move. She couldn't blame him because right now she wanted this ride to stop so that she could get off.